Air cooler

ABSTRACT

This invention allows a common centrifugal blower (fan) to be used to produce cold air for comfort cooling purposes. It uses no chemicals, has no compressor, and does not require a drain since it produces no water while operating. It has been tested in my home, and was used to cool a large tent while family camping. It cooled the tent in 95 degree weather with excellent results. With the addition of the invention to a furnace blower, it can pre-cool air entering an existing conventional central air conditioning system and save energy, or the furnace blower itself could be used as the central air system. in the winter, for furnace heating use, one needs just block the resonator inlets and the blower functions as a normal blower. A smaller blower, like the prototype used for camping, is completely portable and does not need to occupy any windows, as in a window a/c unit. It is extremely environmentally friendly. I have searched the internet world-wide and have found nothing like this device anywhere.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] This invention pertains to the field of comfort cooling. The current state of the art of comfort cooling consists of using a compressor in a closed-loop sysem to circulate a volatile non-flammable gas that changes from liquid state to gaseous state in the loop. Chemical refrigerants used by these systems harm the environment upon their release through leaks or accidents by destroying ozone in the stratosphere or by contributing to global warming through the greenhouse effect. Another disadvantage is the production of liquid water condensate as they lower the dew point of the ambient air that passes through their cooling coils. This requires a drain to remove the water to outside the living area.

[0002] This invention uses all-natural forces and substances to accomplish comfort cooling while producing no liquid condensate. It needs and uses no compressor so its electrical usage is low. And it is as portable as a common box fan; it does not need to be inserted into a window, etc., to function.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0003] This invention adapts any centrifugal-type blower (fan) to cause it to produce cold air without chemicals, compressors or condensate disposal by using the centrifugal forces in the blower (fan) to separate hot and cold fractions present in ambient air, trapping the hot fraction and cooling it while simultaneously discharging the cold air fractions already present in the ambient air. It can be used on any centrifugal blower (fan) both large and small, by scaling up or down the component parts that cause it to function.

ASSEMBLY DRAWING DESCRIPTIONS

[0004]FIG. 1.

[0005] A. Blower housing, centrifugal fan

[0006] B. Sheet metal pipe with flange

[0007] C. Multi-chamber ultrasonic resonators

[0008] D. One-half horsepower electric motor

[0009] E. Hot air fraction blocking damper

[0010]FIG. 2.

[0011] A. Blower housing, centrifugal fan

[0012] B. Sheet metal pipe with flange

[0013] C. Multi-chambered ultrasonic resonators

[0014] D. Bottom plate with fixed ailerons

[0015] E. Blower wheel (impeller)

[0016] F. Hot air fraction blocking damper

[0017]FIG. 3.

[0018] A. Bottom of blower housing, side view

[0019] B. Detail of bends of ailerons in sheet metal blower bottom.

Resonator Assembly Drawing Description

[0020]FIG. 4.

[0021] A. ½″ NPT CPVC orifice

[0022] S. ¾″ NPT electrical box conduit nuts

[0023] C. ¾″ NPT to garden hose thread adapter

[0024] D. ⅜″ I.D. common washer

[0025] E. ⅜″ I.D.×{fraction (1/16)}″ thick neoprene “O” ring

[0026] F. ⅜″ I.D. pushnut

[0027] G. ½″ I.D.×{fraction (1/16)}″ thick neoprene “O” ring

[0028] H. {fraction (5/16)}″ I.D. {fraction (1/16)}″ thick common washer

[0029] I. ⅛″ thick common rubber garden hose washer

[0030] J. {fraction (5/16)}″ I.D. “decorative” washer

[0031] K. {fraction (3/16)}″ I.D.×⅞″ O.D. fender washer

[0032] L. Plastic garden hose cap with ¾″ dia. hole drilled in top

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0033] This invention can be attached to any centrifugal-type blower or fan. It uses air drawn through resonators to inject a stream of cold air into the center of a centrifugal blower. Air drawn through the resonators goes through five stages of resonation at ultrasonic frequencies, thus the air drawn in is forced to vibrate. In vibrating it does mechanical work on itself, thus by the law of thermodynamics this mechanical work is accomplished by the expenditure of energy contained in the air. The only energy available is heat energy, thus the air expelled by the resonators is quite cold. Air drawn into the blower from the main blower inlet consists of room (ambient) air containing a mixture of both hot and cold air fractions of temperature. As the air is drawn into the main blower inlet, It encounters cold air already present in the center of the blower wheel (impeller) injected from the resonator outlets. The rotating high density cold air present in the center of the blower wheel causes the less-dense fraction of of hot air present in the incoming ambient air to be thrown to the outside of the wheel by centrifugal force. A small metal blocking damper added to the outlet port of the blower housing prevents the egress of this separated hot-air fraction, and allows only the denser, colder fractions to be expelled from the blower outlet. The hotter fractions of air are forced to stay in the outer area of the blower wheel, where they are in contact with the blower housing. Since the resonators themselves get quite cold, they begin to cool the blower housing to which they are attached. This in turn begins to cool the trapped hot air fractions. As the fractions cool, their density changes and they fall toward the center of the blower wheel and are eventually expelled from the blower outlet with the already cooled/cold air fractions present. Thus by centrifugal force, hot and cold fractions of ambient air are separated to accomplish comfort cooling without the use of compressors, chemicals, or high energy consumption. The only energy necessary is that needed to turn the blower wheel at its rated operating speed. This device causes no harm to the environment, and uses all-natural forces in its operation.

[0034] The device is easily (and was) constructed out of materials available at any good hardware store, though the parts could be machined by those who are adept at machine work or who have access to a machining job shop.

[0035] The resonators are constructed by first obtaining the items listed in the resonator drawing description (FIGS. 4, A-L). Assemble the resonators exactly as depicted in the drawing. Following the drawing, five resonant chambers in series are thus created in each of the resonator housings. Following the details in the drawings is critical as the multiple chambers is what causes the cooling effect. For convinience of construction neoprene “O” rings form the chamber spacers in the resonators, although they could be machined to the same dimensions as the “O” rings from brass, etc. The material is not critical, the spacing they form in the resonators is.

[0036] Carefully drill a ¾″ hole on the center of the plastic garden hose cap (FIG. 4-L) to prevent the plastic it is made of from cracking. Once the resonators are constructed, set them and the two ¾″ NPT electrical conduit nuts aside for installation in later steps.

[0037] The blower housing air inlet is now modified to accept the resonators (FIG. 2 Assy, FIG. 3). this could involve construction of a new blower housing end (as in the prototype) or simply a modification of a suitable housing.

[0038] The prototype used a blower from a clothes dryer, it had no “bottom”. as it sat vertically in the dryer and the dryer sheet metal formed the rest of the blower wheel's enclosure. After removing the impeller and the electric motor from the blower housing (FIG. 1-A), I laid the housing on a sheet of 28 gauge galvanized sheet metal and drew around the outside of the housing with a marker to transfer its basic shape to the sheet metal. Before removing the blower housing from the marked sheet metal, I inserted the marker down through the center of the motor shaft hole in the housing to obtain a center point for drawing the blower inlet hole on the sheet metal. I removed the blower housing from the sheet metal and laid the impeller on the sheet metal, aligning the impeller's center hole with the center mark I had previously made that indicated the motor shaft access into the housing. I then drew the outside diameter of the impeller on the sheet metal with the marker; this would be the air inlet hole for the blower. At the places marked “C” (FIG. 2 Assy), at roughly 120 degree spacing, I drew tabs 3″ wide and ½″ long from the impeller diameter mark towards the center mark, these tabs to be bent to shape in later steps. I cut out the blower inlet shape with hand shears, including the tabs. I then cut out the shape of the entire blower housing that was previously marked, using the hand shears. At the edge of the marked impeller diameter, I drew a centerline splitting the 3″ width of each tab. I then drilled a ¾″ hole in the three places marked “C” (FIG. 2 Assy) with a bimetal hole saw. These are the mounting holes for the resonators. I then took the tabs and bent them down 90 degrees (toward the impeller wheel area) to form a channel under each resonator (FIG. 3). The trailing edges of the tabs were then bent slightly outward toward the center of the air inlet hole to form an aileron. The resonators were now inserted into the drilled holes and secured to both the outside and inside of the sheet metal using the ¾″ NPTelectrical conduit nuts, locking them into place using thread-locking compound so they could not losen up. The motor eas then remounted on the blower housing and the impeller was reinstalled on the motor shaft The blower “bottom” was then secured to the blower housing using {fraction (5/16)}″ sheet metal screws. The blower assembly was now enclosed. I obtained a sheetmetal pipe with a “flange” type furnace duct attachment (FIG. 1-B) that had a large enough inside diameter to attach to the blower “bottom” to allow the resonators to be within its inside diameter. I attached the flange to the blower “bottom” using ¼″ sheet metal screws. This concluded the modifications to the inlet of the blower.

[0039] The outlet of the blower was measured for width; it was found to measure 3″×3″. A piece of 28 gauge sheet metal was cut to be 3″ wide and 1½″ deep. It was bent 90 degrees to form a piece of sheet metal ¾″×¾″×3″ wide. This was attached to the bottom of the blower outlet duct with ¼″ sheet metal screws (FIG. 2-F). It was found that concentrated hot air escapes in a small width “ribbon” of air at the bottom of the blower outlet while device is operating. This blocking damper (FIG. 2-F) blocks the egress of that hot air and forces it to remain in the blower where it cools and after a while becomes partof the cooled air discharge, which is the majority of the air expelled from the device.

[0040] Mounting the device is a matter for the particular type of blower used, and will vary, obviously, with the particular type.

[0041] An electrical supply cord was then connected to the electric motor, following the motor manufacturer's diagram for proper rotation direction. The electrical supply was energized and the device began operation. 

What I claim as my invention is:
 1. The system and method described in the detailed description of invention- using resonators and a blocking damper to cause centrifugal blowers (fans) to separate hot and cold ambient air fractions for comfort cooling purposes: 